E. M. Cioran (born 8 April, 1911; died 20 June, 1995, pictured above in a photograph, I believe from the late 1980s, by John Foley (© John Foley)
‘One of the Ancients said the doctrine of Epicurus has the “sweetness of the sirens.” It would be a waste of effort to look for a modern system that would deserve such praise.’
‘“What is truth?” is a fundamental question. But what is it compared to “How to endure life?” And even this one pales beside the next: “How to endure oneself?” —That is the crucial question to which no one is in a position to give us an answer.”
—from Drawn and Quartered (1983; originally published in 1971; translated from the French by Richard Howard)
via msodradek:
